Two terrified runners have spoken of their face-to-face encounter with South Lakeland’s mysterious big ‘black cat’.

The latest sighting was reported by Angela Jones and Eve Grayson, whose evening jog on Scout Scar was dramatically interrupted at around 6.30pm last Wednesday.

They have vowed never to venture up to the popular beauty spot in darkness again after coming across what they said was ‘definitely’ a big cat.

It follows years of apparent sightings of the curious creature in Kendal, Levens, Natland, Witherslack and in the Winster Valley.

The jogging duo, who both live in Kendal, spotted the animal just four metres in front of them on the side of a path.

Angela said the animal was jet black, the same size as a labrador, had long legs, a tail and was staring straight at them.

“We stopped, shone our head torches towards it to get a better look and saw two orange eyes and the outline of a large feline animal,” said Angela “It was definitely a big cat.”

As they moved towards the beast, Eve, a student, reported that its tail moved and ‘bristled’, similar to a cat’s when it is angry. But fear quickly set in and they decided to run in the opposite direction.

Angela, who works for Cum-bria County Council, said it was an ‘amazing experience’ but also ‘a bit frightening’.

“We were terrified because it was dark and we didn’t know what it was going to do, or whether it was going to follow us. It is not something you expect to see in this country – and not so close.”

Later that night, they turned to the internet to try to establish what they had seen.

Angela – who said she had never taken previous big cat sightings seriously – was surprised by the number of reports locally.

Word of their brush with the mystery moggy has been met with scepticism by some, but Angela and Eve are adamant about what they saw.

“People still don’t believe it but we know what we saw,” said Angela. “They say: ‘Are you sure it wasn’t a cow or a sheep’ – we were close enough to see that it wasn’t.

“It’s almost like we want to see it again to get a picture to prove it to people.”

l Have you seen a large black cat roaming around South Lakeland recently? If the answer is yes, call the newsroom on 01539-710179.